Nailed It
I am no fan of the so-called "grimdark" subgenre of fantasy (or horror, or science fiction, or mystery, for that matter.) As a librarian and a reader, however, I do see it as a valid and important trend, and am all admiration for those writers who pull it off well.
I hatehateHATE it, though, when it is smugly referred to as "realistic" fantasy (as opposed to what? "Idealistic" fantasy? "Fantastic" fantasy?)
I've struggled with articulating exactly why this bothers me so, however.
Now I don't have to anymore. Marie Brennan (herself a fine fantasy author indeed, and one of the nicest, most thoughtful people I've ever had the pleasure to "meet" online) has expressed it perfectly. Now all I have to do is say "Tolle, lege" -- "Take, and read."
ETA: I totally need to start using a "genre" tag on these rants, don't I?